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UK ministers are set to announce a further delay to post-Brexit border controls on animal and plant products coming from the EU, amid fears that extra bureaucracy on imported goods will fuel inflation. The decision to delay the new import regime at Britain’s ports, which had been due to start in October, is also intended

US prosecutors have charged Donald Trump in connection with attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, the second federal indictment brought against the former president in as many months. Trump was charged with four criminal counts including conspiracy to defraud the US, to obstruct an official proceeding and to threaten individual rights, according

UK house prices have dropped by the largest amount in 14 years, according to fresh data from Nationwide. Prices for July fell 0.2 per cent on the previous month and 3.8 per cent on the same month last year, the largest fall since 2009, the Nationwide house price index showed. The average cost of a home in the UK is now

The UK government has made it cheaper for industry to pollute in Britain compared with the EU by watering down reforms to the carbon market, in the latest sign that the Conservative party is backsliding on its climate agenda. Whitehall recently quietly announced changes to the UK’s carbon trading scheme, including offering more allowances than

The volume of trade between the Russian rouble and the largest dollar-pegged crypto token surged during the attempted insurrection by the Wagner Group earlier this month, as Russians rushed to find an alternative to the country’s weakening currency. The militia group’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin cast doubt on Vladimir Putin’s grip on Russia by attempting the

Travellers determined to take to the skies despite soaring ticket prices have pushed airline profits to fresh heights, as resilient consumer spending buoys the global economy. As they reported record profits on Friday, British Airways-owner IAG said trips across the Atlantic and to leisure destinations had been particularly popular “as customers prioritise holidays”, while Air

Donald Trump has been accused of attempting to have surveillance video footage at his Mar-a-Lago estate deleted ahead of an FBI search, as federal prosecutors added more criminal counts to a case over the former US president’s handling of classified documents. The Department of Justice filed the expanded indictment on Thursday. Federal prosecutors also added

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday to the highest level in 22 years, as it wrestles with how much more to squeeze the US economy to bring inflation under control. The Federal Open Market Committee lifted the federal funds rate to a new target

NatWest chief executive Alison Rose has agreed to step down after she admitted to inaccurately briefing a BBC journalist about the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account. Rose will leave with immediate effect, the bank said in a statement. Paul Thwaite, chief executive of the bank’s commercial and institutional business, will take over for 12

US national security officials are scrutinising an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund’s planned $3bn takeover of New York-based Fortress Investment Group amid concerns in Washington over the UAE’s ties to China, people close to the situation told the Financial Times. The review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an inter-governmental agency

Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez was trailing his conservative rival Alberto Núñez Feijóo in the country’s general election on Sunday night, but the race was unexpectedly close with more than 90 per cent of the vote counted. The preliminary results defied the predictions of most pollsters that Feijóo’s People’s party would comfortably oust the incumbent Socialist

Top US consultancies are struggling to attract business in China as Beijing’s national security raids scare away local clients and global investors pull back from dealmaking in the country. Management consultancy Bain is telling new China hires to wait until as late as 2025 to start their jobs, while roughly half of McKinsey staff do

The message of Thursday’s three UK by-elections was muddied somewhat by the Conservatives’ success in clinging on to the seat Boris Johnson vacated in outer London. But it was clear enough: this was a disastrous night for the Tories. Striking swings to Labour and the Liberal Democrats in northern and south-west England respectively confirm that

Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives have narrowly held on to the Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat in an unexpected UK parliamentary by-election result but were poised to lose two other seats in a night of political drama. Sunak’s ruling party retained the London seat vacated by former premier Boris Johnson by fewer than 500 votes, but the

The biggest US banks spent more than $1bn on severance costs during the first six months of 2023, underscoring the steep price of unwinding Wall Street’s overexpansion during the coronavirus pandemic. Goldman Sachs, which has been hit particularly hard by the slowdown in trading and investment banking, on Wednesday became the latest big bank to

Vladimir Putin ordered the seizure of Danone and Carlsberg’s Russian operations after businessmen close to the Kremlin expressed an interest in the assets, according to people close to the decision. On Tuesday the government appointed Yakub Zakriev, Chechnya’s agriculture minister, as head of the Danone business and installed Teimuraz Bolloev, a longtime friend of Putin,

The UK’s financial regulator and information watchdog will warn banks that they cannot hide behind data protection rules if they fail to alert savers to better deals. Under pressure to pass on the benefits of higher rates, banks told the Financial Conduct Authority at a meeting earlier this month that they could not tell certain

China’s economy lost momentum in the second quarter, with gross domestic product expanding 0.8 per cent against the previous three months as falling exports, weak retail sales and a moribund property sector weighed on growth. The difficulties facing the world’s second-largest economy will put further pressure on global growth and add to calls for Beijing

The Pentagon’s annual funding bill is set to become the focus of a political showdown after Republicans inserted “anti-woke” social provisions into the legislation. The bill — known as the National Defense Authorization Act — is normally shielded from the most bitter partisan bickering and often passes with support from both political parties. But on

Three of the largest US banks reported a surge in profits from charging more for loans, as the Federal Reserve’s series of interest rate rises fattened their bottom lines. JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo collectively earned $49bn in net interest income in the second quarter, the difference between what the banks pay for deposits